C Ihe Ladies c cu. V'VVAN - History and Classics, Department of

286 Notes to Pages 177-187,222-223Professor Harold Innis of Toronto University and hiscotnpanion was an undergraduate naIned GibbsHarold Adams Innis (1894-1952) was appointed a lecturer ineconomics at the University of Toronto in 1920. In thesummer of 1926, Innis stood between his doctoral work on theCPR (1923) and his enduring study, The Fur Trade in Canada(1930). W.K. Gibb published an uninteresting account of histrip with Innis (Gibb).We felt as Noah tnust have felt on the top of Mount AraratOf course, the allusion is to Genesis 8,13.and, after his sojourn to England, moved to Alaska, spendingthe remainder of his life between Anchorage and Los Angeles(Woodward and Burrus 123-27). He was the most highlyregarded painter of Alaskan landscapes in the first half of thetwentieth century, and his name was customarily mentionedparticularly in terms of Mt McKinley (Francisco).Seward for night + then to Restaurant + Cinetna for showAccording to Dorrien Smith's field note for this date, thedeparture from Rome of Amundsen's airship was the subject ofthe film at the cinema.The heavens seetned to eInit a crackling soundThe Northern Lights appear at a different place in this chapterthan in the field notes, and only in their published form dothey seem "to emit a crackling sound." Although regularlydisproved by science, the notion that the Aurora Borealismakes a sound endures as a popular truth.the poet's line: "When earth's foundations fled away"The quotation is likely from the English poet Alfred EdwardHousman's poem, "Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries"(1896), "These, in the day when heaven was falling, / The hourwhen earth's foundations fled, / Followed their mercenarycalling / And took their wages and are dead."CHAPTER 28: THE JOURNEY HOME(8-15 AUGUST)That the field notes end before the women reach Seattlesuggests that Vyvyan considered the time spent in BritishColumbia ofless interest than that spent in the North, lessworthy of documentation. Certainly for the modern reader,the women's activities once they leave Alaska are far less interestingthan their Rat River adventure. Perhaps becauseDorothy Dashwood was her acquaintance, or perhaps becauseshe kept a diary throughout her life, Dorrien Smith continuedwriting until the trip reached its conclusion.Field Note for Thursd'!J 5 AugustNenana ... we got a rOOIn at Southern HotelDorrien Smith's field note gives the name of the hotel as theNorthern, not the Southern.Field Note for Saturd'!J 7 Augustsaw in Anchorage Hotel very fine picture by S. Lawrence ofMt. McKinleyDorrien Smith's neld note for this date adds a Christianname-Sydney-and notes his nationality-English. This isdoubtless the American painter, Sydney Laurence (1865-1940), who did live and work in St Ives, Cornwall, Englandfrom 1890 to about 1904. During that time, he also travelledto Africa to cover the Zulu and Boer wars for Black and White, aLondon periodical. Perhaps because he also became a memberof the Royal SOCiety of British Artists, or perhaps because thehotel manager told her so, Dorrien Smith incorrectly gave hisnationality as British. He was born and raised in N ew York,etnbarking on the steaIner for SeattleThe SS Yukon was built in 1899, and the Alaska SteamshipCompany operated it on the Seattle-Seward route from 1924until it wrecked in 1946 (McDonald 140). It sailed the womensouth to Seattle with stops along the Alaskan coast at PortAshton, Port Benny, Crab Bay, Latouche Island, KnightIsland, Columbia Glacier, Valdez, Cordova, Port Althorp,Juneau, Petersburg, Wrangell, and Ketchikan. According toVyvyan's field notes and letter of 15 August to her mother, thetrip lasted from 8 to 16 August. (A photograph of the shipappears in McDonald 76.)The best interview was with Sheriff Inkster, a fine uprightold-tiIner aged 83, who loved talking about the Rat RiverColin Inkster (1843-1934) was born in the Red River colony,and in 1871 became a member of Manitoba's first legislativecouncil. He was minister of agriculture and president of theCouncil 1874-76, was appointed speaker of the Legislative